4:30pm: The Blue Jackets have recalled Liam Foudy once again under emergency conditions. Foudy made his NHL debut on Monday night but had to be returned to the OHL following the game. He is still not a long-term option, but could play Thursday for the Blue Jackets.
10:42am: The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost another key player for the next little while, announcing today that Cam Atkinson will be out for two to three weeks with a sprained ankle. Atkinson already missed a dozen games earlier in the season with a high-ankle sprain. Though he hasn’t been officially put on injured reserve, when he does he’ll join a group that already includes Seth Jones, Brandon Dubinsky, Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Murray, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Texier and Dean Kukan (though some are approaching a return). The team has also been without Joonas Korpisalo since the end of December, though he never made it onto IR.
Even with the never ending injuries, the Blue Jackets remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL. An overtime loss to the Lightning on Monday made them 7-1-2 in their last ten games, a period in which they’ve only allowed 15 goals against. That stingy defensive strategy will hopefully get them through the next few weeks, though Jones’ will be out much longer than that.
In a such a tumultuous season, one can bet that John Tortorella will be getting plenty of votes for the Jack Adams trophy should the Blue Jackets end up in the playoff picture. To do it, he’ll need Atkinson back and healthy as soon as possible.